Gerrymandering in Wisconsin cause voters to submit petition

According to Wisconsin voters, Gerrymandering has been a longstanding issue for more than a decade. Organizations like Law Forward and Common Cause Wisconsin, claim the republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature, of creating voting districts and maps with partisan interest.

Law Forward, submitted a petition on Tuesday, August 3rd, to have several voting district maps be reviewed. Dan Lenz, the Staff Counsel for Law Forward, said the districts made didn’t meet Wisconsin’s Constitution requirements.

Even in elections when Democrats win almost all or all of the statewide offices by big numbers. “Various members of our co-counsel team have been litigating these maps for a long time,” Lenz said. “For the past 12 years, Wisconsin has lived under some of, if not the most gerrymandered maps in the country. Which have solidified Republican power in our state.”

Lenz also said the hope with the Wisconsin Court reviewing the maps, the Legislature will amend them by March 19th 2024.

“We’ve presented the court with a number of options,” Lenz said. “We think these maps are unconstitutional in a number of ways, and that the Court can take various steps to get rid of the existing maps and to put remedy maps in place.”

While the Wisconsin legislature has been controlled by Republicans for well over a decade, the Democratic party has also used gerrymandering too. Jay Heck, the Executive Director of Common Cause Wisconsin, said that Gerrymandering is a tool by whichever party is in power.

“Democrats do it to Illinois is a classic example of a state that Gerrymanders for Democrats,” Heck said. “It makes it impossible for Republicans to ever gain a majority in the Illinois legislature. So it’s not a Democratic or Republican thing. It’s a power thing.”

Heck also said that fixing the voting districts is not a Democrat or a Republican issue. It’s a democracy issue with ensuring free and fair representation. “We’re just interested in having fair maps,” Heck said. “If you vote for somebody, you have a reasonable expectation that the party of the person you’re voting for may have a chance to possibly gain control of the legislature. That’s not the case in Wisconsin at the moment.”

Also for more information about the Law Forward’s petition about Gerrymandering in Wisconsin you can look here. Although for more stories happening in Wisconsin you can read more here.